n8n-mcp/docs/RELEASE_GUIDE.md

Release Guide

This guide explains how to create releases for n8n-MCP and how Docker tags are managed.

Version Tag Strategy

When you create a Git tag starting with v, the GitHub Actions workflow automatically builds and pushes Docker images with the following tags:

Example: Creating Release v1.2.3

# Create and push a version tag
git tag -a v1.2.3 -m "Release version 1.2.3"
git push origin v1.2.3

This will automatically create the following Docker tags:

Optimized Images:

• ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1.2.3 (exact version)
• ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1.2 (minor version)
• ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1 (major version)
• ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:latest (if from main branch)

Full Images:

• ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1.2.3-full (exact version)
• ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1.2-full (minor version)
• ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:full (if from main branch)

Tag Types Explained

Latest Tag

• When: Every push to main branch
• Usage: Default tag for users who want the latest stable version
• Example: docker pull ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:latest

Version Tags

• When: When you create a Git tag like v1.2.3
• Usage: Users who want a specific version
• Example: docker pull ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1.2.3

Branch Tags

• When: Every push to a branch
• Usage: Testing specific branches
• Example: docker pull ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:main

SHA Tags

• When: Every commit
• Usage: Debugging specific commits
• Example: docker pull ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:main-abc123

Release Process

1. Prepare Release

# Update version in package.json
npm version patch  # or minor/major

# Update CHANGELOG.md
echo "## v1.2.3 - $(date +%Y-%m-%d)" >> CHANGELOG.md
echo "- Feature: Added X" >> CHANGELOG.md
echo "- Fix: Fixed Y" >> CHANGELOG.md

# Commit changes
git add -A
git commit -m "chore: prepare release v1.2.3"
git push origin main

2. Create Release Tag

# Create annotated tag
git tag -a v1.2.3 -m "Release v1.2.3

- Feature: Added X
- Fix: Fixed Y"

# Push tag to trigger Docker build
git push origin v1.2.3

3. Create GitHub Release

# Using GitHub CLI
gh release create v1.2.3 \
  --title "Release v1.2.3" \
  --notes "See CHANGELOG.md for details" \
  --latest

4. Verify Docker Images

# Wait for GitHub Actions to complete, then verify
docker pull ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1.2.3
docker pull ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:latest

# Test the new version
docker run --rm ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1.2.3 --version

Semantic Versioning

Follow Semantic Versioning:

• MAJOR (1.0.0 → 2.0.0): Breaking changes
• MINOR (1.0.0 → 1.1.0): New features, backwards compatible
• PATCH (1.0.0 → 1.0.1): Bug fixes, backwards compatible

Examples:

• Breaking API change → v2.0.0
• New MCP tool added → v1.1.0
• Bug fix in parser → v1.0.1

Pre-releases

For testing releases:

# Create pre-release tag
git tag -a v1.2.3-beta.1 -m "Beta release"
git push origin v1.2.3-beta.1

This creates:

• ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1.2.3-beta.1

Docker Compose Updates

When releasing, update documentation to reference specific versions:

# Stable version (recommended for production)
services:
  n8n-mcp:
    image: ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1.2

# Latest version (for development/testing)
services:
  n8n-mcp:
    image: ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:latest

Best Practices

1. Always test before creating a release tag
2. Update documentation to reference new versions
3. Use annotated tags (-a flag) with descriptive messages
4. Follow semver for version numbers
5. Update CHANGELOG.md with every release

Rollback Process

If a release has issues:

# Users can pin to previous version
docker pull ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1.1.0

# Or use minor version for automatic patches
docker pull ghcr.io/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp:1.1

Checking Available Tags

# Using Docker Hub API (for public registries)
curl -s https://ghcr.io/v2/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp/tags/list

# Or check GitHub packages page
# https://github.com/czlonkowski/n8n-mcp/pkgs/container/n8n-mcp